FIBA World Championships

Tiago Splitter was solid and professional, not spectacular. A guy who got things done but without flair. That is to say, he was a Spur. Tiago Splitter — who joins the Spurs this fall — got a real test against NBA talent when Brazil took on the United States in the FIBA World Championships. Well,…

Maybe Spain misses Paul Gasol more than we thought. After dropping their first game to France it was expected Spain would wake up and start to roll, but on Tuesday they blew an 18-point third quarter lead, were outscored 23-9 in the fourth quarter and fell to Lithuania 76-73. Good you say. The other co-favorite…

Kevin Love sat on the bench for most of the second half in the USA’s skin-of-their-teeth win over Brazil, while Lamar Odom played. Frankly, we were a little confused. Love has played very well in this FIBA World Championships. He has outworked the other team for rebounds, his outlet passes are the best in the…

You can go ahead and say the USA’s fortunate win over Brazil put their weaknesses on display for the world and showed why this team will be in trouble against the globe’s other elite squads. The guys on the team can’t look at it that way. Andre Iguodala has been keeping a diary for the…

We know the USA was tested — and we’ve questioned Coach K’s rotations — but what else was going on Monday in Turkey? Glad you asked. Slovenia 91, Croatia 84: In an intense battle of rivals, Croatia had a five-point lead at halftime. Then NBA players Bostjan Nachbar and Goran Dragic scored 11 points as…

Are you a glass half full guy about USA basketball, or glass half empty? Because that will determine how you feel about the USA’s come-from-behind-then-hold-on-to-the-seat-of-your-pants 70-68 victory over Brazil. If you’re a pessimist, you saw all the perceived flaws of this USA squad exposed — they had trouble protecting the paint against Brazil, especially early,…

Yi Jianlian has spent the last couple years in New Jersey playing like a guy who was trying to do what his coach told him and over-thinking things, not having fun and just playing basketball. The Nets didn’t want that, but for whatever reason the fit just seemed wrong. He was shooting 40 percent from…

If the calls of NBA officials are curious, than those of FIBA referees are completely baffling; calls aren’t even consistent on a play-to-play basis, much less from game to game. Though the members of Team USA have a few intrasquad scrimmages, a handful of exhibitions, and two preliminary games under their belts, all with FIBA…

No huge upsets on day two, but top teams continue to struggle while the USA continues to cruises. Lithuania 70, Canada 68: The Canadians were up 17 points in the second half but succumb to the physical play of Lithuania late and have fallen to 0-2 in the tournament. Tomas Delininkaitis had a big second…

Participating in the FIBA World Championships for Team USA is largely about sacrifice. Players surrendering their games for the good of the team, and putting aside egos. But that doesn’t mean players aren’t getting anything out of it. For one, they’re being kept in better shape than they would be lounging all summer and occasionally…

The USA came out and overwhelmed Slovenia at the start, shutting them down and converting the misses into easy buckets the other way. It was 12-2 USA before Slovenia had laced up their shoes. Pretty much the same thing during the USA’s 50-15 run against Croatia during the second and third quarters in their first…

Well, they’re not blowing teams out by 40. But for a team that many had significant doubts about heading into the FIBA World Championships, Team USA is doing pretty well for itself. Team USA ran out to a 14-4 lead and never looked back in a 99-77 win over Slovenia Sunday in Istanbul (not Constantinople). …

You know the USA was hardly tested in a 106-78 win over Croatia, but the other FIBA World Championship favorite Spain lost its opener. What that means may not be all bad — if Lithuania wins that group (no sure thing yet, by any stretch) the USA and Spain could meet in the finals, not…

Well, that was… not a basketball game. It was for a good quarter. Croatia’s national team actually held a 19-18 lead on Team USA early in their opener of FIBA play. And then, well, Team USA showed that stars or no stars, they have talent, they are prepared, and they can absolutely dominate over lesser…

Team USA is a lot of fun to watch if you truly love the game of basketball. They are aggressive on defense, they pressure and gamble. They want to run. They have spectacular athletes. They can turn the finesse of international basketball into a day at Rucker Park with dunks and showmanship. Did you see…

Let me guess, you have not spent a lot of time watching Croatia’s national team. To be honest, neither have we. Fortunately there is Tony Ronzone, Team USA’s director of international player personnel (and assistant GM for the Timberwolves). He gets paid to watch and know these teams and provide scouting reports. Which he did…

You’re ready. You’ve read up on Team USA and its group. You’ve watched the warm-up games. Even your Facebook profile picture is a USA jersey. You are set to watch Team USA destroy the world as is its manifest destiny…. Except they could lose. It is possible — and not a slim possibility, but a…

In the World Cup, the toughest group of four drawn gets the moniker “Group of Death” because some quality team is not going to be advancing to the final 16. If there were a Group of Death for the FIBA World Championships, it would be Group B. The USA’s group. Except that it really doesn’t…

Hey, remember that time a Greece-Serbia friendly broke out into a rootin’, tootin’, chair-throwin’ brawl? When Antonis Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis went absolutely nuts? Even if you don’t (which you really should — it’s been the most notable moment in the lead-up to the FIBA World Championships), I’m pretty sure the Serbian and Greek players,…

Okay, we admit this is a crazy long shot. So does Chris Tomasson of Fanhouse, who is in Istanbul and may have been in a hookah bar for all we know when he came up with it. But hear us out: It is possible for USA Basketball not to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in…

Oklahoma City center Nenad Krstic said he was worried that he would be suspended for his part in a huge Serbia/Greece brawl at a “friendly.” Specifically the throwing the chair part. He was right. FIBA announced suspensions today and Krstic will be out the first three games of the group stage of the World Championships.…

We basketball junkies will sometimes chide the casual fan for not knowing some of the bigger names in the international game — Tiago Splitter, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Nikola Pekovic, Dimitris Diamantidis and others. But the fact of the matter is, many sports fans in America don’t know who Eric Gordon is. And he made Team USA.…

Andres Nocioni was expected to be a cornerstone for Argentina, one of the world basketball powers, at the World Championships in Turkey. But he sprained his ankle on July 31, and after an MRI this week it has been decided he will sit out the tournament to rest it more, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.…

Previously I cautioned not to draw too many conclusions from the USA Basketball victory over Greece Wednesday. Greece sat its two best inside players, the USA quickly went deep into the bench and both teams kept it simple, trying not to tip their hand in the event of any future meetings. Andre Iguodala, however, saw…